Cronin named her book after two organisms that gave Charles Darwin some difficult moments as he struggled with his theory of natural selection. The vast majority of ants are sterile workers, never reproducing, each always ready to engage in potential sacrifice of self for colony…
In a world supposedly governed by ruthless survival of the fittest, why do we see acts of goodness in both animals and humans? This problem plagued Charles Darwin in the 1850s as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Indeed, Darwin worried that the good…
In a world supposedly governed by ruthless survival of the fittest, why do we see acts of goodness in both animals and humans? This problem plagued Charles Darwin in the 1850s as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Indeed, Darwin worried that the good…
In a world supposedly governed by ruthless survival of the fittest, why do we see acts of goodness in both animals and humans? This problem plagued Charles Darwin in the 1850s as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Indeed, Darwin worried that the good…
This book is divided into five parts, each providing background and evidence from different perspetives and disciplines, that cooperation and/or altruistic behavior are pivotal, and central components to nonhuman primate and human social existence. Each part begins with a short …
This volume examines the evolution and nature of cooperation and altruism in social-living animals, focusing especially on non-human primates and humans.
After many years of observing chimpanzees soothe distressed neighbors and bonobos share their food, the author presents evidence of ethical behaviour in primate societies that further cements the case for the biological origins of human fairness. Primatologist de Waal argues tha…
"In this lively and illuminating discussion of his landmark research, esteemed primatologist Frans de Waal argues that human morality is not imposed from above but instead comes from within. Moral behavior does not begin and end with religion but is in fact a product of evolutio…
A renowned primatologist argues that ethical behavior witnessed in animals is the evolutionary and biological origin of human fairness and explains that morality has more to do with natural instincts than with religion.